Amnesty International has criticised the Government's ongoing failureto address human rights concerns in a number of areas.

In its latest annual report, the organisation highlighted allegationsof ill-treatment by Gardaí, failure to tackle racist crimes andunsatisfactory conditions and treatment for patients in psychiatricinstitutions.

Amnesty has criticised Ireland in relation to these matters onnumerous occasions in the past.

In today's report, it reserved its strongest condemnation for theUnited States, which it accused of primary responsibility for aworsening of human rights throughout the world in recent years.

Allegations persisted of ill-treatment by police officers, and suchallegations were not investigated impartially. Concerns about thesystem for reporting, recording and prosecuting racist crimescontinued. Conditions in psychiatric and other institutions formentally disabled people remained unsatisfactory. Concerns wereexpressed about inadequate asylum-seeking procedures anddiscrimination against migrant workers. Provisions to protect womenescaping violence in the family were insufficient.

Background

The European Committee of Social Rights issued its conclusions onIreland's first report, finding 12 cases of non-conformity andrequesting further information on nine cases.

The Ombudsman for Children began to investigate complaints againstsome public institutions.

Treatment of people with disabilities

The report of the Inspector of Mental Hospitals, published inSeptember, criticized seriously unsatisfactory conditions for the careand treatment of patients in psychiatric hospitals, as well as gaps inprovision for specific groups of vulnerable persons.

The severe shortage in psychiatric services for young people resultedin children being detained in adult psychiatric hospitals.

A National Disability Strategy was published in September. Thisincluded the Disability Bill 2004, which, despite prior governmentpledges, was not human rights-based, and did not adequately providefor the progressive realization of economic and social rights ofpeople with disabilities. The Strategy and Bill were criticized bydisability groups.

Policing

Allegations continued to be made of ill-treatment and other seriousmisconduct by members of the Garda Síochána (police force), which werenot adequately investigated by the Garda Complaints Board.

The Tribunal of Inquiry (the Morris Tribunal) into complaints againstGarda officers in the Donegal Division issued its first report inJuly. The tribunal found culpability ranging from instances ofnegligence to two officers corruptly orchestrating the planting ofammunition and hoax explosives. It made recommendations for improvedmanagement, recording of incidents, an urgent review of policy on thehandling of informants, and greater accountability.

Seven Garda officers were tried in connection with allegations ofexcessive use of force during a demonstration in Dublin in May 2002.Six were acquitted and the seventh was convicted of assaulting ateacher.

The Garda Síochána Bill 2004 was published in February, setting outfor the first time in statutory form the functions of a policeservice. It also provided for the creation of an independent GardaOmbudsman Commission to deal with complaints, with powers ofinvestigation, arrest and detention of Garda officers. The Irish HumanRights Commission voiced concern about certain provisions of the Bill.Its recommendations included: all interviews with suspects should bevideo-recorded; the Ombudsman Commission should have the right toinspect any Garda station; and all investigations, except the mostminor, should be conducted by the Commission.

Places of detention

Detention conditions did not comply with international standards: manyprisons were overcrowded, lacked adequate sanitation facilities andhad insufficient education and employment programmes. People facingdeportation were detained in prisons, rather than in special detentioncentres. Mentally ill prisoners continued to be held in padded cellsin ordinary prisons rather than in specialized institutions.

The authorities failed to establish an independent and impartialindividual complaints mechanism for prisoners, as recommended by theEuropean Committee for the Prevention of Torture.

Asylum-seekers and migrants

The Immigration Act 2004 was fundamentally flawed in its lack ofrespect for internationally recognized human rights. There was noindependent human rights monitoring of immigration controls at portsof entry.

Concern heightened throughout 2004 about the status and entitlement ofmigrant workers, including their rights to family reunion, and to beprovided with a means of appeal against a deportation order.

The 27th Amendment to the Constitution was passed, removing theconstitutional guarantee of citizenship for people born in Ireland whodo not have a parent with Irish citizenship.

Family members of children with Irish citizenship, who were notthemselves Irish nationals, faced the retrospective application ofchanged government policy to deny them automatic residency. Suchfamilies were not entitled to legal aid when applying to remain onhumanitarian grounds. According to official figures, by October, 32parents of Irish children had been deported, and another 352 had beenissued with deportation orders. Concern remained that the bestinterests of the child were not sufficiently being taken into accountin deportation decisions. In October a decision by the European Courtof Justice confirmed the rights of children who are citizens of theEuropean Union (EU) to the care and company of their parents in theEU. In December, the government announced revised arrangements forprocessing claims from the non-national parents of Irish children bornbefore 1 January 2005.

Racism and equality

There were inordinate delays in developing the National Action Planagainst Racism. According to the National Consultative Committee onRacism and Interculturalism, there was an increase in the number ofracially motivated incidents in the aftermath of a citizenshipreferendum in June. A number of human rights and Traveller groupscondemned the erosion of travellers' rights and heavy-handed policingmethods used in relation to Travellers. Concerns about the inadequacyof the system for reporting, recording and prosecuting racist crimespersisted.

The Equality Act 2004, ostensibly enacted to comply with EU Directiveson equal treatment in relation to race, employment and gender,inadequately implemented the Directives' requirements, and underminedexisting non-discrimination provisions. Of particular concern wereprovisions for differential treatment of non-EU nationals in access toeducation and to a number of state services, discrimination on thebasis of nationality in the area of immigration and residency, and thecontinuing failure of the government to introduce a statutory duty onpublic authorities to ensure greater equality.

Violence against women

Voluntary organizations supporting victims of rape, sexual assault,domestic violence, and trafficking for sexual exploitation reportedthat they were seriously hampered by inadequate funding. There wasalso concern at the shortage of shelters for women and childrenleaving abusive situations, and at the vulnerability of immigrantwomen whose legal status prevented them from seeking help.

The only conviction for marital rape secured in Ireland was overturnedin October.

Arms trade

In May, the government published a review of Ireland's export controlsystem for military and dual-use goods. It subsequently committeditself to introducing new legislation which would include controls onarms brokering and the submission of an annual report to theOireachtas (Irish parliament). There were gaps in the proposedlegislative framework.

In March, in a case with profoundly detrimental implications for humanrights and the rule of law, the Law Lords held that the authoritieswere not obliged under the Human Rights Act 1998 to conduct an"effective and independent" investigation into the 1982 killing ofGervaise McKerr by members of a special "anti-terrorist" unit of theRoyal Ulster Constabulary because it had occurred before the Act'sentry into force in 2000.

In February Justice Peter Cory, a retired Canadian Supreme Courtjudge, publicly confirmed that he had recommended four separate publicinquiries into alleged collusion by security forces in the killings ofPatrick Finucane, Rosemary Nelson, Robert Hamill and Billy Wright. InApril, the authorities finally published Justice Cory's reports, andannounced the establishment of public inquiries in three cases, butnot that of Patrick Finucane. The three inquiries had not started bythe end of 2004.

In September, Kenneth Barrett, a former Loyalist paramilitary, wasconvicted of the 1989 murder of Patrick Finucane. Shortly thereafter,the authorities announced that an inquiry into the Finucane case wouldbe established on the basis of new legislation to take account of"national security". Concern remained over how public the announcedinquiry would be and the possible use of "national security" toprevent the full exposure of state collusion in Patrick Finucane'skilling.

Abuses by non-state actors

Despite a significant decrease, high levels of paramilitary violencecontinued, particularly by Loyalist groups. Three killings wereattributed to members of Loyalist groups and one to members ofRepublican groups during 2004. There were on average two shootings andtwo to three assault victims every week.

The Independent Monitoring Commission reported that members ofLoyalist paramilitary organizations were responsible for a series ofviolent racist attacks in Belfast. According to the Police Service ofNorthern Ireland the number of racist and homophobic incidentsrecorded had more than doubled from 226 and 35 respectively in2002/03, to 453 and 71 in 2003/04. In December, however, theauthorities reported that the rate of increase in racist attacks wasslowing down.

Prisons

A parliamentary committee found that more people than ever were heldin custody and for longer periods. It found that many of them shouldnot have been there, in particular the mentally ill. It expressedconcern about overcrowding, unsatisfactory detention conditions andthe extreme paucity of prosecutions of police and prison officersinvolved in custodial deaths. It concluded that the authorities werefailing "properly to protect the lives of vulnerable people in thestate's care". It found that "someone is either killed, killsthemselves or dies in otherwise questionable circumstances every otherday" in prison. It expressed deep concern at the number of peopledying in custody and at the rate of self-harm incidents, especiallyamong women.

Official statistics showed that there were more than 100 self-inflicted deaths in prisons during 2004. Fourteen or 15 were women.Although women comprised only five to six per cent of the prisonpopulation, they accounted for 13 to 15 per cent of self-inflicteddeaths.

The Chief Inspector of Prisons for England and Wales issued somehighly critical reports following her visits to a number ofinstitutions. Among other things, she raised concerns about risks toinmates' safety, unsatisfactory regimes for women, and poor detentionconditions. The Chief Inspector of Prisons for Scotland reported thatovercrowding had worsened and that in some facilities sanitaryconditions were grossly inadequate.

In November a public inquiry opened into the killing of Zahid Mubarekby his cellmate, a known racist, at Feltham Young OffendersInstitution in March 2000.

Deaths in police custody

In April a television broadcast showed Christopher Alder choking todeath on the floor of Queen's Gardens police station in Hull whilehandcuffed, in 1998. In December, four of the five police officersinvolved in his death retired on ill-health grounds. A review of thecase by the independent police complaints commission was ongoing atthe end of 2004. The Alder family demanded an independent publicinquiry.

In November the verdict of unlawful killing returned by a jury inOctober 2003 following the inquest into the death of Roger Sylvesterin January 1999 was quashed.

Police shootings

In October an inquest jury returned an unlawful killing verdictfollowing a second inquest into the 1999 fatal police shooting ofHarry Stanley. Although the prosecuting authorities were stillconsidering whether to charge the officers involved, in December theywere allowed to return to work on "non-operational duties".

In December an inquest jury returned a lawful killing verdictfollowing an inquest into the fatal police shooting of Derek Bennettin 2001.

Army deaths in disputed circumstances

In November the CAT expressed concern about "reports of incidents ofbullying followed by self-harm and suicide in the armed forces, andthe need for full public inquiry into these incidents and adequatepreventive measures".

In December, the authorities appointed a human rights lawyer to reviewfour deaths of young soldiers at Deepcut Barracks.

Freedom of expression

In February the prosecution dropped charges against Katharine Gun, aformer government employee accused of leaking an e-mail on US plans toeavesdrop on UN Security Council members in the run-up to the Iraqwar. The prosecution stated that there was no reasonable prospect ofsecuring a conviction.

In December the Court of Appeal of England and Wales upheld thejudgement in a case concerning three coachloads of anti-war protesterswho were stopped from reaching the Royal Air Force base at Fairford –used by US B52 bombers to fly to Iraq – and forcibly returned toLondon in March 2003. The court found that detaining Jane Laporte toforcibly return her to London was unlawful and violated her right toliberty under the European Convention on Human Rights. However, thecourt found that preventing the coaches from reaching Fairford waslawful, and that, as a result, the police had not violated JaneLaporte's right to freedom of peaceful assembly and expression.

Refugees and asylum-seekers

Legislation further restricted the right to appeal against a refusalto grant asylum, replacing the two-tier immigration appeals systemwith a single tier. The authorities' initial decision-making on asylumclaims was frequently inadequate. Restrictions on public funds forimmigration and asylum work left many asylum applicants without expertlegal advice and representation.

In May the Court of Appeal of England and Wales ruled that legislationallowing the authorities to deny any support to adult asylum-seekerscould not be reconciled with the UK's international human rightsobligations.

AI country visits

AI delegates observed judicial hearings pertaining to internmentproceedings under the ATCSA, the prosecution of Katharine Gun, andproceedings in Northern Ireland arising from the killing of PatrickFinucane.

The Rev Ian Paisley was accused today of acting irresponsibly after helaunched a withering attack on former US president Bill Clinton.

By:Press Association

Mr Paisley branded the former president a "political has-been" lastnight after he challenged the Democratic Unionist leader`s claim thatthe Good Friday Agreement was dead and should be buried.

The veteran unionist was in turn criticised by Sinn Fein MP MichelleGildernew for his broadside against Mr Clinton.

The Fermanagh and South Tyrone MP said: "It is possible that if IanPaisley had the courage to remain within the political negotiationswhich led to the Good Friday Agreement instead of walking away andthen catching up with the process years later, he may have experiencedat first hand the positive role which was played by President Clintonand his administration in the search for peace and justice in Ireland.

"Mr Paisley`s ill-judged remarks today are the latest in a long lineof irresponsible commentary from the DUP leader.

"Mr Paisley needs to reflect upon the political responsibility whichcomes with an increased political mandate and behave accordingly."

The DUP leader accused Mr Clinton of "unmitigated cheek" following hiscomments on the Agreement during a visit to Dublin.

The former president did not agree with the DUP leader`s claim outsideDowning Street last Thursday that the 1998 accord was dead.

He also stated his view that the next move to reinvigorate thepolitical process in Northern Ireland was in the IRA`s court.

The former president said: "If they were to give up their arms andcriminality, I think it would put a lot of pressure on Mr Paisley andothers."

Mr Clinton added that the Good Friday Agreement was fair to everyonein Northern Ireland.

He said: "I hope it can still be revived."

The DUP leader responded that the Agreement was devoid of democracy.

There needed to be a new beginning in Northern Ireland which froze therepresentatives of terrorism out of government, he insisted.

The North Antrim MP continued: "Clinton cannot have his way to forceIRA/Sinn Fein terrorists into the government of this part of theUnited Kingdom, as I told him to his face when he was in Belfast."

Mr Paisley said when Mr Clinton was in the White House he would nothave allowed the Oklahoma bombers to take posts in his government.

"Rather, he threatened them with the almighty punishment of hisgovernment. Yet he dares to dictate to the free people of NorthernIreland that they must have such terrorists in their government," theveteran MP, who has been buoyed by the strong General Electionperformance by his party, said.

"Don`t do what I do, but do what I say - that is the hypocritical wayof Bill Clinton, a has-been."

Mr Paisley also launched a vigorous attack on nationalist SDLP leaderMark Durkan after he insisted the DUP should not be allowed to dictatethe pace of political progress in Northern Ireland following therecent elections.

The Democratic Unionist claimed Mr Durkan had been mixing for far toolong with Sinn Fein.

Ms Gildernew said Sinn Fein was determined to see political progressin the time ahead.

She said: "The two governments (the British and Irish) clearly have amassive responsibility to ensure that this happens.

"The people of Ireland who voted for the Good Friday Agreement in suchlarge numbers cannot be expected to wait forever for the DUP to beginto grasp basic concepts of equality and democracy."

Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams has given a general welcome to thenews that a Suicide Task Group is to be established for North and WestBelfast.

Mr Adams said:

" The news that a special suicide task group is to be established tobegin work in North and West Belfast is welcome and has come aboutafter a sustained campaign by the local community, those bereavedthrough suicide and Sinn Féin.

" There still remains however an onus on the Department of Health tobridge the funding gap which continues to exist for mental healthprovision in North and West Belfast and ensure that a regionalstrategy for suicide prevention is put in place.

" Sinn Féin intend to meet with the Health Minister in the comingweeks to continue to press the Department to seriously address theissue of suicide and suicide prevention." ENDS

Sinn Féin Chairperson of Magherafelt District Council Sean Kerr hasdismissed SDLP criticism of his party for implementing the d'Hondtsystem of power sharing on the council last night and said that hisparty would not be deflected by criticism from individual SDLPCouncillors or rejectionist unionists from demanding that the systembe introduced across all 26 local authorities in the six counties.

Cllr. Kerr said:

"Sinn Féin have unashamedly demanded that all 26 local authoritiesintroduce d‚Hondt as a system of allocating fairly and proportionatelyall positions within local councils. We have had some success in thiseffort over recent years. However the SDLP have adopted a differentapproach. On some councils they have supported power sharing while onothers such as Moyle during the last council term they happilycolluded with unionists and others to exclude Sinn Féin from seniorpositions. However Sinn Féin will not be deflected by criticism fromindividual SDLP Councillors or rejectionist unionists from demandingthat the system be introduced across all 26 local authorities in thesix counties.

"Last night on Magherafelt Council as with Strabane Sinn Féinsuccessfully ensured the adoption of d'Hondt. The system ensured thatSinn Féin as the largest party with 50% of the seats became Chair forthis year along with a DUP Deputy, as example of successful powersharing in anybody‚s book. Indeed at last nights meeting in Magherfeltthe SDLP group actually declined to accept a number of nominations topositions of power in line with their strength while in Strabane theircouncillors operated the system effectively and fairly.

"The bizarre allegation made this morning by SDLP Councillor KateLagan that Sinn Féin have done anything other than ensure thesuccessful implementation of d'Hondt in line with party policy isludicrous. The SDLP leadership need to clarify if the objectionsraised to the running of d‚Hondt by a number of Magherafeltcouncillors last night is a departure from their support for thismechanism in delivering Executive positions under the terms of theGood Friday Agreement. If the SDLP leadership adopted the argument andapproach promoted by their councillors last night in Magherfelt thenthey would in fact not accept Ministerial positions in line with theirelectoral strength. This is a daft position to adopt and id one Isuspect will not find much favour amongst the SDLP Assembly group."ENDS

The British and Irish Governments are again stressing the need to givethe IRA all the time they need to come up with a definitive statementpermanently renouncing all illegal activity.

Playing down the idea of a time limit for the IRA to make a statementof its future intentions, Secretary of State Peter Hain said: "If moretime is needed for a definitive and categorical statement I wouldprefer that to a premature and unsatisfactory one."

Bertie Ahern followed a similar line, telling the Dail that "what theIRA said in any future statement was the most important thing".

"The quality and clarity of the reply is what I have turned my mind torather than if it takes one week or two weeks or a month," he toldOpposition leader Enda Kenny.

The space given for the IRA was the main theme to emerge from lastweek's otherwise ritual talks with Gerry Adams in Downing Street, whenit emerged that the terms and timing of an IRA reply to calls todisarm hadn't even been raised by Tony Blair.

An SDLP delegation led by Mark Durkan, newly elected as MP for Foyle,was meeting Mr Blair today.

But the IRA will have to be "crystal clear it is ending all illegalactivity if it is to gain the confidence of others in the peaceprocess", Mr Hain warned.

Responding to the IMC's finding of continuing IRA recruitment,training and intelligence gathering and heavy involvement in crime,the Secretary of State said: "They have only themselves to blame foreveryone mistrusting them.

"They put their own motives and intentions in the dock when theycarried out the Northern Bank robbery and the grisly murder of RobertMcCartney within weeks of different parties coming close to anagreement before Christmas.

"I am hopeful that we can find a way out of the impasse but a crucialstaging post in that will be the clarity and certainty of any IRAstatement and some verification of that reality on the ground," MrHain said.

His warning came as the Taoiseach hinted in the Dail that he may soonhold his first talks with Sinn Fein since January.

Mr Ahern told Opposition leader Enda Kenny that the IRA's internaldebate on its future was very significant.

All details given will be kept strictly private and the highest bidwill be posted here each day.----

The Text of Gerry Adams Letter

On September 13th, 2004, at a very sensitive time in the peaceprocess, a sophisticated bugging device was found hidden in Sinn Féinoffices in Connolly House, Belfast. This was the second device foundin Belfast within ten days. Martin McGuinness and I returned theConnolly House device to the British Prime Minister Tony Blair duringthe peace talks in Leeds Castle, England.

When we were leaving that meeting I held on to a section of thatdevice. Since then I have been in correspondence with various elementsof the British system to establish who authorised this electronicsurveillance operation. In January 2005 Eliza Manningham-Butler, headof MI5, admitted that MI5 bugged Connolly House.

This note is authentication by me that the section of the buggingdevice which it accompanies is part of the Connolly House device whichwas returned to Mr. Blair.

Sinn Féin National Chairperson and MEP for Dublin Mary Lou McDonaldhas today challenged the Irish Government to "publicly commit itselfto ruling out a re-run of the EU Constitution referendum if it isdefeated by people in the 26 Counties".

Ms McDonald made her comments after the French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin said that a re-run of the EU Constitution referendumwas not a perspective that France could accept. Mr Raffarin made hiscomments on television yesterday (Tuesday 24.05.05) before the Frenchpeople vote on the EU Constitution this coming Sunday, May 29th.

Speaking from Brussels Ms McDonald said:

"Prime Minister Raffarin‚s comments are a clear indication that theFrench Government will not hold a second referendum if the first failsto be ratified. In comparison, the Irish Government has refused torule out this possibility. In fact, when questioned on the 12th April2005 in the Dail, the Taoiseach refused to rule out a secondreferendum.

"When the Irish Government re-ran the NICE referendum, it was clearthat they were more interested in pandering to the elites in Europe,than to the will of the people in this state. This Constitution willhave far reaching ramifications for all of Ireland; the people must besovereign, and not sacrificed for political expediency by thisgovernment.

"Sinn Féin will be campaigning for a NO vote on the EU Constitutionbut if the people vote for the Constitution then we will respect theirwill. Unfortunately the Irish Government is unwilling to make such acommitment." ENDS

Navan was united in grief yesterday as the tragic deaths of the fiveteenage girls who died in Monday's bus crash began to sink in.

Hundreds of local people, students and teachers from the foursecondary schools attended early morning Mass at 10am to pray fortheir lost school friends.

The congregation at St Mary's Church in Navan also included some ofthe pupils who were on board the bus when it crashed.

Celebrant Fr Brendan Ludlow asked for prayers for the students whodied and were injured.

"Don't underestimate the power of prayer at a time like this. Yourprayers are not in vain. They will support the families and studentsat this terrible time," he said.

The Bishop of Meath, Dr Michael Smith, visited the scene and theschools yesterday.

He called for prayers for the victims, the injured and their families.He also asked people to remember the teachers and other students fromthe schools.

"I call on people across the diocese to unite in prayer for the youngvictims and their families, for the injured and their families and forthe teachers and students from the schools affected by this tragedy,"he said.

Archbishop Robin Eames sent a message of sympathy on behalf of theChurch of Ireland.

"I want to extend our deepest sympathy and prayers on the tragic lossof young people's lives yesterday. Our prayers are with the relativesand friends and those who are so badly injured," he said.

Expressions of sympathy were also extended yesterday from the Churchof Ireland Archbishop of Dublin, Dr John Neill, and the Church ofIreland Bishop of Meath and Kildare, Bishop Richard Clarke.

A book of condolence has also been opened by the vicar of St Ann's inDawson Street in central Dublin, Reverend Canon Tom Haskins.

The book is to remain open from 10am to 4pm until Friday afternoon,and will then be sent on to the people of Kentstown.

Outside the church, there were emotional scenes as students met oneanother, some for the first time since the crash.

Many hugged each other for support. Parents and relatives spoke of howthe tragedy had shocked the entire community.

Edwina McGinn said her 14-year-old daughter attended the LoretoConvent.

"You send children off to school for an education. When you saygoodbye, you expect them to come home safe. You don't expect this tohappen.

"Getting over this is going to be a day-to-day process. You hope thecounselling and friendships they've made will help them get on withthings. Children are resilient at the end of the day," she added.

Elizabeth Sheridan, a mother whose teenage son and daughter survivedthe crash, said the community was devastated but would pull together.

"Even at the hospital last night, it was like a community gathering.It's all very shocking. You don't expect that a school bus willoverturn like that," she added.

Sales of draught beer and cider have fallen by 11.5% in the first fourmonths of this year in pubs, according to figures from the IrishBrewers Association.

The statistics come as a number of leading brands have announced priceincreases in recent days.

The biggest fall in draught sales has happened in Dublin were turnoveris down almost 15%.

Some major drink producers have confirmed they are increasing prices4c per pint, citing higher costs as the reason behind the move.

Heineken, Guinness, Smithwicks, Carlsberg, Harp, Budweiser and Bulmerswill all increase. It is expected the pubs will add a further 4c andtwo cent will go in VAT, meaning that a 10c increase is expected ontheir pints.

Today Beamish & Crawford which produces of Miller, Fosters, Beamishand Kronenbourg said it was freezing prices in light of falling sales.

The company's chief executive Alf Smiddy today said the price of apint was becoming too expensive for consumers.

The Licensed Vintners Association welcomed the move and said itsmembers were in a very difficult period.

BELFAST (Reuters) - Northern Ireland, once renowned worldwide forbombs, bullets and bigotry, is doggedly rebuilding its tarnished imageand now boasts more than two million visitors a year.

At the height of the Irish Republican Army's campaign to oust Britainfrom the province, working for the Tourist Board ranked as one of themost unenviable in the travel business.

But now, cashing in on the low cost airline boom to attract city breakvisitors from across Europe, the tourist industry has ambitioustargets.

"We need to get their spend up but we topped the magic two millionmark last year and are aiming for seven percent growth this year,"said Northern Ireland Tourist Board chief executive Alan Clarke.

"We have nine more air routes coming in here from Europe this year.All this helps to build up confidence in Northern Ireland," he toldReuters. "Of course we started from a low base but it is going in theright direction."

The 1998 Good Friday accord brought an uneasy peace to the provincewhere more than 3,600 people died in 30 years of sectarian violencebetween Protestants and Catholics.

But efforts to sustain a local assembly have still not succeeded. Its1997 ceasefire may be holding but the IRA has still not pledged to laydown its arms forever.

Tourists, however, seem not to worry.

Visitors from Britain have risen by 50 percent since 2000 and Ireland,with its booming Celtic Tiger economy, is a real tourist gold mine onthe province's doorstep if more Emerald Isle visitors can be temptednorthwards.

The Dublin and Belfast tourist boards now work together in marketingand promotion and Clarke said: "This is one of the most tangibleresults of the peace agreement."

Long gone are the days when the only images beamed around the worldfrom Northern Ireland were of death and destruction.

"Our surveys show that when visitors get here, they do feel safe. Wehave work to do but we want to be in the news for the right reasons,not the wrong ones," he said. "Tourism is a real barometer of economicconfidence."

Even its bloody past is proving to be a boom with sharp-eyed localentrepreneurs laying on "Troubles Tours" to show visitors thetroublespots of Belfast where rioters once pelted police with petrolbombs and sectarian killings abounded.

That is fine by Clarke.

"You try to meet customer needs and people want to know what happenedhere and why. I think there are now about half a dozen groupsorganising tours in Belfast."

City breaks, golf, fishing and some of the most unspoilt scenery onthe island of Ireland are proving to be real tourist magnets.

But Clarke is keen to beef up the heritage attractions and 2012 offersa convenient target to aim for.

That marks the centenary of the Titanic being launched from Belfastfor its brief career as the world's most famous ocean liner beforebeing sunk on its maiden voyage by an iceberg.

Eager to cash in on the box office success of the Titanic film, plansare now afoot to develop a visitor centre in the docks where thedoomed liner was built.

In a surreal celebration of Belfast's industrial heritage, artist RitaDuffy is planning in 2008 to tow an iceberg from north of Norway intoBelfast.

She believes the iceberg would represent a dramatic piece of"performance art" as it slowly melted in Belfast Lough.